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The Lost Lands Calendar

Submitted by Greg A Vaughan on Thu, 07/09/2015 - 14:46

I already gave a little bit of info on this in my previous blog post in regards to lenght of months, weeks, years, etc. But I'll include that info here again to start things off and then supplement if with new material that has been worked up. Again, this is all still in relatively crude/my personal notes form, so it'll be cleaned up before publication int he campaign setting. It also still ahs some blanks to be filled between now and then, so there are definitely more pieces of the puzzle that haven't yet been realized.

Measurements of Time

1 Day = 24 hours as subdivided by the concept of the Tesseract’s 24 faces. Some cultures divide days into units based on the 8 cells or 16 vertices, but these are not present in the mainstream timekeeping of the Lost Lands which sticks to the 24 faces representing 24 1-hour increments.

1 Month = 30 days, 4 7-day weeks with 2 festival days, no weekends/sabbath (7-1-7-7-1-7) = 30 days, so it basically works out that there is a festival day every two weeks (…7-1-7-7-1-7-7-1-7-7-1-7-7-1-7…), though 4 High Holy Days throughout the year placed on the equinoxes and solstices break that pattern up to some extent.

2 Fortnights is considered a month even though 2 “true” fortnights would technically only be 29 days when counting nights specifically (28 nights/29 days), but the night of the final day before a new month is understood to be included as well for ease of using 2 fortnights to describe a 1-month period (29 nights/30 days). High Holy Days are not considered in calculation of fortnights.

1 Year = 12 months + 4 High Holy Days = 364 days

Every month has special days called out, in particular Calends (the first day of the month) and Ides (this means the middle of the month, which would be the night between the 15th and 16th days. It is traditionally held to be the day leading up to that night, so when Ides is mentioned it means the 15th day (i.e. the last day of the month's first fortnight). Each Calends and Ides is considered sacred to one or more deities. I don't have all of them worked out yet, so there are some entries that just say XX right now, but they'll be filled in later.

The Ancient Hyperboreans had extremely efficient but very boring names for each month (e.g. Firstmonth, Secondmonth, and so on). This held true for most of the duration of that empire's dominance over Akados, however, with its decline and ultimate demise the months were renamed in a piecemeal fashion by the folk. These renamings show mainly Hyperborean and Foerdewaith (the empire that followed Hyperborea and remains extant though in a much-reduced capacity) influence but with a strong admixture of Heldring and local folksy influences. These have gone through many permutations in the last millennia or so, and this is what they have ultimately arrived at in the current day. Most humans cultures of Akados conform to the Common Calendar as well as the PC races. Insular enclaves of dwarves and elves use their own names (not convered here), but in their dealings with the numerically dominant humans that make use of the Common Calendar as well. As mentioned, each of the 12 months has 30 days (i.e. 2 fortnights or 4 weeks and 2 festival days depending on how you want to look at it).

Common Name Hyperborean Name Real-World Approximation

Oeros Firstmonth January

Foeros Secondmonth February

Freyrmond Thirdmonth March

Eostre Fourthmonth April

Tiwemond Fifthmonth May

Daan Sixthmonth June

Haymond Seventhmonth July

Hummidos Eighthmonth August

Mithrond Ninthmonth September

Blótmond Tenthmonth October

Winterfyll Eleventhmonth November

Yule Twelfthmonth December

It should be noted that one of the biggest Heldring influences on the calendar is the ending of the month with the letter "d" as in "mond". This is a holdover from their use of the letter "eth" (written as "ð" which they pronounced with a "th" sound, but most speakers don't realize this and just use the "d" sound when they say it making Haymonth into Haymond in the common usage. The "os" endings reflect the older Hyperborean naming traditions (not of months but just in general, like Akados, etc.) even when applied to a specifically Foerdewaith name like "Foeros". When the Foerdewaith changed Secondmonth to Foeros early in their empire, they were specifically trying to be imitative of the Hyperborean style as had been previously used in renaming Firstmonth "Oeros" after the first Hyperborean emperor, Oerson, (which was done rather late in the Hyperborean Empire actually, as they tried to draw upon their oldest roots and legitimize the current dynasty at the time).

In addition to the 12 30-day months, the yearly calendar includes 4 High Holy Days that are somewhat mobile. Only the fourth one, Midwinter, is always set to occur on the day after the last day of Yule. Since these four are based on solstices and equinoxes, they vary somewhat from year to year. Together these make a 364-day calendar. The exact dates of the other 3 High Holy Days are determined by the Order of Corollaries at the Reliquary of Jamboor in the Rampart Mountains (see the forthcoming The Lost Lands: Borderland Provinces). The process is very difficult and somewhat confusing because other than Midwinter (that always falls between Yule and Oeros), the other High Holy Days can fall at different times either between months or at random times during months. This is just an accepted part of society in the Lost Lands among the common folk and nobility alike, the knowledge that a High Holy Day might plop down in the middle of any given week. Since the High Holy Days are their own full days, then the week just resumes normally on the day following the HHD. Most people only have a vague notion of when the HHDs will be for the year until the Reliquary of Jamboor publishes the information by herald in all the major cities on Saining (see below) each year. However, truly isolated communities who don't receive that information regularly may just make their best guess as to the actual dates of the HHDs and celebrate accordingly.

The four High Holy Days are:

Winter Solstice: Called Midwinter. The day following Midwinter is Calends of Oeros and is the first day of the new year, called Saining.

Vernal Equinox: Called the Cusp of Freya, it signals the midpoint of Spring.

Summer Solstice: Called Midsummer.

Autumnal Equinox: Called the Cusp of Mithras,it signals the midpoint of Autumn.

The High Holy Days are pretty universal among the various religions and are recognized in the civic calendar as holidays. However, the actual days that mark the beginning/ending of seasons are also considered to be important and are frequently celebrated by different religions and even different communities on a local basis. These four Days of the Seasons are as follows:

Imbolg: first day of Spring

Beltane: first day of Summer

Lammastide: first day of Autumn

Day of the Dead: first day of winter

Each of the High Holy Days and to a lesser extent the Seasonal Days has a whole host of holidays that are celebrated on them and around them in different ways by different religions. Some of the names of these are more traditionally known (such as Samhain, the last day of Autumn occuring the day before Day of the Dead) but not necessarily celebrated (Samhain is mainly only kept religiously by the witches that follow Hecate or Cybele, others just have seaonal festivals to mark the end of Autumn). In addition there are a number of other holidays celebrated by various religious groups that may have some level of universal recognition.

Below is a breakdown of the yearly calendar with explanations of the month names and the holidays/festivals that generally fall within each month:

1. Oeros (Month of Oerson):

Named for Oerson, first polemarch of Hyperborea

Saining (New Year) is first day of Oeros

Calends – The Whiskey Man (formerly also Father Poga), Rialae-Aibaru

Ides – XX

The Feast of Fools is on the 6th day of Oeros

The Gnomish Grand Masquerade is on the 6th day of Oeros

Orenday (first full moon after Midwinter) is in Oeros

2. Foeros (Month of Foere):

Named for the Empire of Foere after its founding by Macobert

Calends – Brigid, Rialae-Aibaru

Ides – XX

Imbolg (first day of spring) is in Foeros, midway between the winter solstice and vernal equinox

First thaw usually occurs in Foeros

3. Freyrmond (Month of Freya):

Named for the goddess Freya in honor of the coming of Spring

Calends – Freya, Rialae-Aibaru

Ides – XX

Cusp of Freya (vernal equinox) falls near the end of Freyrmond

Planting usually takes place in Freyrmond

Spring migrations usually begin in Freyrmond

4. Eostre (Month of Eostre):

Named for the goddess Eostre (Muir)

Calends – Muir, Rialae-Aibaru

Ides – XX

Eostre is considered sacred to the Cult of Belphegor, and the archdevil is strongest in this month

Lover’s Day (first bloom of spring) usually occurs in Eostre

The first grape harvest occurs in early Eostre

Spring flood season is in Eostre

Akitu-festival – Ashurian sowing festival occurs in late Eostre

Summer Blót falls in Eostre, four weeks after the Cusp of Freya

5. Tiwemond (Month of Tyr):

Named for the god Tyr (Thyr)

Calends – Thyr, Rialae-Aibaru

Summer Ides – Darach-Albith

Beltane (first day of summer) is in Tiwemond, midway between the vernal equinox and summer solstice

Walpurgis Night is the last night of Tiwemond

6. Daan (Month of Daan):

Named for the ancient hero Daan after overthrowing the corrupt Hyperborean Empire

Calends – Thursis, Rialae-Aibaru

Summer Ides – Darach-Albith

Midsummer (summer solstice) falls near the end of Daan

7. Haymond (Haymaking Month):

Calends – Demogorgon, Rialae-Aibaru

Summer Ides – Darach-Albith

Accounds is on Calends of Haymond once every 5 years

8. Hummidos (Month of Hummaemidon):

Named in celebration of the Battle of Hummaemidon in 1 I.R.

High elves and humans hold this month in special esteem; dwarves (especially mountain dwarves) refuse to acknowledge the common name of this month and will only refer to it as Eighthmonth (or XXX among mountains dwarves)

Calends – XX, Rialae-Aibaru

Ides – XX

Crafts festivals occur in Hummidos

Lammastide (first day of autumn) is in Hummidos, midway between the summer solstice and autumnal equinox

Harvest Festival (Lammastide)

9. Mithrond (Month of War):

Named for the god Mithras for the final months for military campaigns each year

The Hunter’s Moon occurs either in mid-late Blótmond or early-mid Winterfyll

Autumn Blót occurs four weeks after the Cusp of Mithras

11: Winterfyll(First full moon of Winter):

Named for the month that usually has the first full moon of winter

Calends – XX, Rialae-Aibaru

Ides – Orcus

Álfablót occurs in early Winterfyll

The Hunter’s Moon occurs either in mid-late Blótmond or early-mid Winterfyll

First frost usually occurs in Winterfyll

Samhain (last night of autumn)

Day of the Dead (first day of winter) is in Winterfyll, midway between the autumnal equinox and winter solstice

Winter Nights (first three nights of winter)

Winter Night Blót, Dísablót (first night of winter)

12. Yule (The Feast Month):

Named for the month of feasts celebrating the Yule season culminating at Yuletide and Hogmanay

Calends – XX, Rialae-Aibaru

Ides – XX

Midwinter (winter solstice), the last day of the year, falls on the day after the end of Yule

Okay that's a lot to swallow. So I'll close out with a listing of a lot of the common holidays by HHD or season and who they're dedicated to and follow it up with the names of the days of the week at the end.

Founders Day (days when cities or nations were founded): Sacred to Sefagreth

Lunar Eclipses (nights when Narrah is in eclipse): Sacred to Arden

Moonless Night: Occurs once a month on a random night, not even the Reliquary of Jamboor can predict. Sacred to Shupnikkurat and Knem Koth (and Cybele) for raids by Nocturnals. Sacred as ritual nights to Crocutus, Mirkeer, Snuurge. (See Hawkmoon adventures for info on Moonless Night)